Emancipating John Sailorman.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVII, Issue 15, 10 April 1912, Page 2

Emancipating John Sailorman.

Mr. Havelock Wilson and His Herculean Task — Why) the British Seamen Went on Strike.

ZVN R. HAVELOCK WILSON, secfl I B ift uy of the British Seamen’s F» deration, and the man w ho / organised John Sailorman into a powerful fighting force of something like 80.000, with which to challenge the autocratic power of the “Shipping Federation. Limited.’’ i- shortly to visit New Zealand. To the average shore goer his name may not convey any great significance other than that he is a successful trades union organiser, but to the folk who go down to the sea in ships his name will surely in their orison* be remembered. To start a campaign against the “Shipping Federation ” and it* X 200.000.000 of capital, was of itself the task tor a giant in courage, resource and organi*’ng ability. Eor. over twenty years the Shipping Federation had dominated the existence of the British seafarer, with the help of. I la.-k list, repressive conditions of employment, and wages never much above the border line of destitution, while diioet and powerful opposition was always brought to bear against any parliamentary effort on behalf of the seamen. Every attempt to organise the men had been relentlessly crushed, and the lot of the British Jack was rendered ever becoming more parlous by t.he en-

couragement of Asiatic labour —at the present day there arc over 44,000 Asiatics in the British mercantsle marine, and tbe'r numbers are ever in leasing. In *hort. one of the prime obje -ts of the Snipping Federation sumcd to be the de-t.-immed -tamping out of all in.’.epen I- • . ' . • lien, not only of Britain, but of e. ry country in Europe, and no means were negi< ted in a. hicving the object. And it was to liberate the men from this soulless machine of repression that Mr. Havelock Wilson summoned all his Yorkshire grit and gristle—an I finally won nut. The Seamen’s l-iiion had languished along a loose half-hearted sort of existence before he gripped the controller, and local strikes wer ‘ as numerous as they wire fruitless for the strikers. In all instances the shipping Federation spared no expense to seeme labour, competent or otherwise, tn man the shipping, unt I the tyranny of the Ee<l- raticn be<ame such that the men continually <-lamotile I for an organisation that would boldly declare war. And ultimately Mr, Wilson decided to foisake Pa. I ament, and proceed to open up an international movement. H? was well calculated t> appreciate th? disabilities of th-* men ha had come out to champion, for at the aire of sixteen he himself shipped before the mast, and spent many years in windjambers under the iron conditions of life in the fo’c’s’le. Meetings were held in

the United States and at Home, and men. joined the union in thousands weekly. But the Shipping Federation, so long accustomed to a dominant attitude, declined absolutely to meet any overtures from the seamen’s representatives. In June. 1910, upwards of 100 members cf Parliament, together with the representatives of the union, waited on the Right Hon. Sydney Buxton, president of the Board of Trade, to urge the desirableness of establishing a conciliation board for seamen on the lines of those in existence for the miners. It took over six months to consider the situation, for in November following Mr. Buxton replied that the Shipping Federation had answered that there was no need for a conciliation board for seamen’s grievance-. r.s thev’ had none. Therefore, said the Board of Trade’s President, there was no necessity to pursue the matter further. Every peaceable and conciliatory method was put forward by th? union, but all were in turn treated with scornful silence. Final attempts to bring things to a settlement through the medium of a Conciliation Board were made by the union in April last year, but as the federation did not even condescend a reply, and the Board of Trade was useless, it was decided to strike,and strike hard, in every part of the United Kingdom at one and the c»ame time. On June 14 speciallyprepared banners bearing the tragic announcement/' “War is now declared,’’ were unfurled amid dramatic manifestations.. The seamen who had’ signed on before the official declaration were instructed to abide by their agreement, even though they sailed after the strike was declared, and for a week it looked as if tLere was little or no strike. Another week, and shipping lay idle in all directions. “-Sailors’’ and “firemen” were sought in the wilds of Birmingham, Leeds, Bradford, and other inland localities. but one after another the ports became blockaded. Hull wa* in th? grip of famine. The North-East Coast was fast. The Scotfish ports were blockaded. Grim determination marked the men ofLiverpool and London. Presently the dockers threw in their lot to a national movement for better wage* and conditions of employment, and the discontent of years which had smouldered in silence and in fear broke out with alarming fury, overwhelming the country with the grim spectre of industrial desolation and disrontent. It was only then that grievances for the rectification of which by arbitration so many appeals had been made in vain received serious attention from shipowners and the Government which had previously treated, all repregentatkiis -itli such iudifl ’ remce.